Future of Durham's guaranteed income program in jeopardy after funding runs out
Durham Mayor Pro Tempore Mark-Anthony Middleton is asking the city council to set aside $1 million in the city budget to continue a guaranteed income program.
Funding has run out on Durham’s Guaranteed Income Pilot Program. The program gave $600 a month from March 2022 through February 2023 – no strings attached – to 109 people in Durham who were formerly incarcerated.
The goal of the program is to help them meet basic needs and stay out of jail.
Shanti Callender is responsible for overseeing the guaranteed income program. She works as an employment counselor with nonprofit StepUp Durham, which provides free employment training services to Durham jobseekers.
“People used the funds to start their own business, gain housing, help with food,” Callender said. “[There have been] a lot of positive, great things.”
Callender said she feels a personal connection to the mission having faced drug charges decades ago as a teen.
“Things I did when I was 16, I would never do now that I’m in my late 40s,” Callender said. “So, I don't appreciate being judged by that, and that's what's happening to a lot of the Durham community members.”
The private donations that made the Durham program possible ran out. It included $500,000 from Twitter founder Jack Dorsey and $100,000 from the city in administrative costs.
Durham's income pilot program was scheduled to last one year. It meant future iterations of the program would require a different funding source.
Callender said she’s optimistic city leaders will continue the program.
“This has been a remarkably successful pilot for us here in Durham,” Middleton said.
Callender echoed Middleton’s sentiment, calling the program “a wonderful success.”
“It’s giving people a chance to get back into society [and] get back into the workforce,” Callender said.
Middleton mentioned how none of the 109 participants were re-incarcerated. He said the guaranteed money can help tackle root causes that drive people toward crime.
“We know that folks who aren't engaged in creative calculus as to how they're going to pay their rent or feed their children or pay their bills make better neighbors,” Middleton said.
Middleton believes Durham's success can inspire the country.
“Durham's participation in this initiative was in hopes of providing a test case, a demonstration model for our national government to eventually adopt this,” Middleton said.
Middleton told WRAL News that he is optimistic that his fellow city council members will agree with him and will want to fund this program. It is one of the line items on the agenda when the Durham City Council meets for a budget retreat Thursday and Friday. The city's final budget is expected to receive final approval in June.
